Two Arrows to Silence (Patreon)

She had always been a fighter. A woman of shadows, moving unseen, untouchable, until tonight. The mission was supposed to be simple, a routine infiltration. Yet, the darkness had betrayed her.

The first arrow struck fast, a sudden bloom of pain piercing through her left breast. Shocked, she staggered, gripping the shaft as crimson seeped into the fragile white of her top. Her breath hitched, her mind still racing for an escape. But before she could move, a second arrow buried itself just beside the first, driving the agony deeper.

She gasped, her knees buckling beneath her. The strength that had always defined her faltered as her hands clutched at the wounds, her fingers trembling. Blood dripped onto the cold floor beneath her, each drop a final measure of time slipping away.

She tried to stand, her body refusing to surrender, but the pain overruled her will. Her vision blurred, the edges of the room growing hazy, as she staggered backward, her back arching in one last desperate defiance.

The weight of her fate pulled her down. As she collapsed, the world around her dimmed. The fight had left her, and so too did the last breath from her lips.

Silence. And then, nothing.